Lead Friend, SASS #53635 Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I have multiple sets of sixguns in .357 and .45 Colt. I am getting ready to order a full race '73 and am faced with a choice between these two calibers. Any insight from the fire regarding whether one caliber might be more suitable than the other, everything else being equal? I understand the differences in recoil but are there any other functional differences that should be considered? Thank you in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yul Lose Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 .45 more expensive to reload, but you probably know that. My full race 73 had much blowback so keeping the extractor clean was very important. The gunk builds up underneath it and causes extraction issues over time. Jim Bowie showed me how to clean it properly and never had anymore issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCandless Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 .45 is a fine smokeless round, but it's not rifle friendly for Black Powder. If you're shooting smokeless, than either one will do fine. Whatever you decide is your "go to" caliber. Myself, I've relegated the .45 rifle to smokeless, and shoot BP in my 38/.357 and .38WCF '73s . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 While .38 will preclude you from shooting Classic Cowboy, it is cheaper to load for... and while the forty-five has bullets in the 160-180 range, you can get a much, much lighter pill to throw from a .38. I can attest to the generous chambers of nearly all 45 Colt rifles. And with light cowboy loads, they tend to generate a lot of soot back into the action. This is reduced significantly if you keep your loads in the median range of most load charts. Crimp heavily and don't mind cleaning. I have six rifles chambered in 45 Colt. And like 'em all. Other folks don't seem to like 'em as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinpan McGurk Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 Have both but only shoot smokeless, one advantage of the 38/357 is that you can load 357 brass to 38 specs and help with any feed issues related to OAL that some rifles have..as mentioned before it is cheaper to shoot. I find both easy to reload unlike 44-40 so no difference there. If you are going to hunt the .45 is probably better than 38/357 for that depending on what you are hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube Burrows Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I'm a .45 guy. I shoot for fun and I'm not a racer. I just started out with a .45 and never looked back. Everyone has their reasons for shooting what they do and each will vary. I enjoy loading for both .45 and .38. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StirrupTrouble Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I prefer 45s, but both are fine rounds. However, if you go with 38, look for a mag sleeve. This is an insert in the magazine. A lot of the mag tubes were designed for 45, so with 38s they can cock back and forth, occasionally causing feeding issues. The sleeve helps ensure the rounds stay straight and feed properly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phiren Smoke GUNFIGHTER Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 LF, A 45 rifle can be used in Classic Cowboy and Wild Bunch. A 357 rifle is cheaper to feed. Buy at least one of each before the election. Hope this helps, Smoke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I shoot .45 Colt in an 1866 and a '73 and I learned to carry one of those pressurized gun scrubber cans on my cart. Every so often me or a Pard will have a problem with those toggle actions gunking up, but a few squirts with the gun scrubber flushes things right out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646 Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I shoot a 73 in 38/357. It likes to feed better with 357 length so I load mild 38 powder charges and 125 rnfp in 357 cases. I like the reduced recoil to my self and my billfold. Imis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marauder SASS #13056 Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 IF you don't mind possible blow back on your face and having to clean the rifle more thoroughly more often and shoot warmer loaded 200 grain bullets, you can go with the 45. Remember that 45 rifles were not made in the old west. A large part is the old cartridges would not work at all. But the problem even now is that it takes more pressure to make the brass expand in the chamber to avoid blow back which may (depending on rifle and loads) come back a little in your face. Not dangerous bur some notice it a lot more than others. Plus your brass will be very dirty but more importantly the action (and under the extractor) gets build up so it will not extract. To help that most folks recommend going with a "warmer" load with at least a 200 grain bullet. Plus the chambers are normally cut on the wide side of the specs to make them easy to load etc. Thus making the problem worse on some guns, but still there on essentially all. If you would rather have less maintenance and no blow back in your face and shoot anything from 105 grain to 160 grain bullets, go with the 357/38 Special. Plus the overall set up of the 38 makes it easier to put in the shortest stroke lever allowed. Since the 45 has to do a little more "work" generally the 3rd generation works better than the shortest stroke. That matters more to some folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefro, SASS#69420 Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 .45 is a fine smokeless round, but it's not rifle friendly for Black Powder. If you're shooting smokeless, than either one will do fine. Whatever you decide is your "go to" caliber. Myself, I've relegated the .45 rifle to smokeless, and shoot BP in my 38/.357 and .38WCF '73s . What the Doc said........38 will be fine for smokeless and BP............The best choice is a 44/40 or 38WCF (38/40). Good for all categories and Wild Bunch.....no blowback and easy to keep clean Good Luck Jefro Relax-Enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.D. Daily Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 As for the 45LC blowback issues with rifles, I wonder if the resizing die were backed out to only resize the case to just below the bullet would the blowback be reduced? You would have to use different headstamp cases for rifle and pistol; so, you could identify the rifle brass. P.S. my experience is with an Uberti Lightning which has had at least 2K smokeless rounds through it. Other than barrel chamber & bolt face. I have only cleaned it thoroughly once with Remoil; which was a mistake because it removed the clearcoat on the outside of the receiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 What the Doc said........38 will be fine for smokeless and BP............The best choice is a 44/40 or 38WCF (38/40). Good for almost all categories and Wild Bunch.....no blowback and easy to keep clean Good Luck Jefro Relax-Enjoy Fixed that for ya... can't use a '73 in B-Western. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Dutch, SASS # 7995 Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 As for the 45LC blowback issues with rifles, I wonder if the resizing die were backed out to only resize the case to just below the bullet would the blowback be reduced? You would have to use different headstamp cases for rifle and pistol; so, you could identify the rifle brass. P.S. my experience is with an Uberti Lightning which has had at least 2K smokeless rounds through it. Other than barrel chamber & bolt face. I have only cleaned it thoroughly once with Remoil; which was a mistake because it removed the clearcoat on the outside of the receiver. I use a Redding Dual ring carbide sizing die for 45 LC, one ring will size the shell to chamber specs. and the other will size the shell to bullet specs. work great stopped all the 45LC issues with rifles and will help make the shells last longer by not over working the brass. V.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokestack SASS#87384 Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 .38s are obviously cheaper o shoot but if I were looking for a big bore rifle, I would choose a 44/40 hands down over a .45 colt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickel City Dude Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 .38s are obviously cheaper o shoot but if I were looking for a big bore rifle, I would choose a 44/40 hands down over a .45 colt. +1 on that, and they are generally more accurate than the .45. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lead Friend, SASS #53635 Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Thanks to all who responded. If I was starting over again I might very well choose .44-40 for a variety of reasons but I've already got pistols so I'm sticking with these two calibers. The general feeling I'm picking up on is that .357 wins out both in the cost to feed and with the blowback issue. Since I am not overly fond of cleaning guns that leads me back to .357 as well. As Phiren Smoke suggested I'll make it my goal to end up with one of each but it sounds like maybe I should start with the .357. Thanks for the insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokestack SASS#87384 Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Thanks to all who responded. If I was starting over again I might very well choose .44-40 for a variety of reasons but I've already got pistols so I'm sticking with these two calibers. The general feeling I'm picking up on is that .357 wins out both in the cost to feed and with the blowback issue. Since I am not overly fond of cleaning guns that leads me back to .357 as well. As Phiren Smoke suggested I'll make it my goal to end up with one of each but it sounds like maybe I should start with the .357. Thanks for the insight. Another thing to consider is that they will likely cost the same new but the .357 will have more resale value due to more demand, if you ever went to sell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafe Conager SASS #56958 Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 I have both I shoot black out of both, yes you get more blowback in the 45 but I can get through a 6 stage match without having to clean just a spritz of balistol. Just shot bordertown 12 stage without cleaning. Rafe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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